The scientists fed the data on the decline into their climate model, and found with ultraviolet radiation falling, parts of the upper atmosphere cooled more than usual, allowing cold weather to form over northern Europe and the United States.

"We hope this will open the door to improving ultralong-range predictions," Scaife said, and that researchers hope to start incorporating solar variability into long-term weather predictions.

"It's changing the odds of what kind of winter you're going to get by a significant amount."